Core head of cabbage, place in boiling water and boil until partly cooked. Separate leaves and trim stems. Reserve about 24 to 32 whole leaves. Cut remaining leaves and line the bottom of large roasting pan.

Lightly pack a small handful of the meat mixture and place in the center of a cabbage leaf. Fold top part of leaf over mixture, then fold in the sides and roll until mixture is completely encased. Lay rolls on top of torn cabbage leaves in pan. Place sauerkraut evenly over rolls. Lay bacon on top of sauerkraut. Sprinkle with 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar. Mix chopped tomatoes and soup with water and pour over rolls. Add additional water to reach top of cabbage rolls.

Reviews 172

198 Ratings

Vicky Gunkel

11/17/2010

This recipe is so close to mine that I wanted to review it and give a few tips that I use when making my cabbage rolls. First, not only should you drain the sauerkraut, but you should also rinse it thoroughly and squeeze the excess water out. This removes the brine that seems to give sauerkraut it's bad rep. A good old world recipe boils the cabbage head and the shortcut of freezing the head overnight leaves the cabbage leaves rubbery. It's an old world recipe and shortcuts like this are not good unless you just hate cabbage and throw the leaves out anyway. There is a large hard vein that runs down the center of the cabbage leaves near where it comes off the core. This can be cut out so your cabbage leaf is tender. That hard vein cannot be tenderized so get it our of there. Use smoked bacon-as it cooks, it helps to further tenderize those cabbage leaves as the fat renders down on top of rolls, plus it adds a smoky flavor to the sauerkraut. Last of all, (no offense to anyone) the flavor of pork mixed with beef cannot be replaced by ground turkey. It does change the flavor and taste of this old world recipe and the fat content of the pork helps to tenderize the cabbage covering the rolls. I suggest you try the recipe as directed to try it old world then review it. (Most people don't go through the trouble of making cabbage rolls very often so live a little here. If you plan to fix this frequently, then add your ground turkey and make it more healthy.

JANETP.

1/22/2004

FANTASTIC!!! I am a huge fan of stuffed cabbage to begin with, but this recipe improved upon my already good stuffed cabbage recipe. I loved the ground pork with the ground beef. The sauerkraut was a great addition to the cabbage. I may try adding an additional can of soup next time to thicken up the sauce so it is more like gravy. Be prepared! This makes a lot of food. (Good for leftovers.) I didn't have a big roasting pan so I had to split this up amongst two 9 x 13 size pans. I am going out to buy the right size pan for the next time I make this. Thanks for the recipe. My whole family enjoyed it!

LINDA MCLEAN

11/22/2010

I've been making stuffed cabbage for quite a few years but wanted to find something just a little different; and this was! We absolutely loved it! My husband loves sauerkraut, my kids hate it and truthfully, coming from a german family and eating is constantly while growing up I didn't care if I ever had it again. Needless to say, my husband thought this was terrific, my kids didn't even realize they were eating sauerkraut and I thought the kraut, coupled with the bacon added a very wonderful flavor. I'll make stuffed cabbage this way from now on. Thanks!!
UPDATE! Since my recent move to Kentucky, I found out that the love of my life hadn't had a cabbage roll since he was just a kid. With that I just knew I had to make this particular for him. Kelly, I wish I could tell you how much he loved this! He actually said this was the most delectable dish he's had in a very long time! Nice compliment for both of us! Thanks again!